


Alice in Wonderland: 1920s Gothic

by Shurapenrose



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Genre: 1920s, Fairy tale in real life, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 16:32:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14524698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shurapenrose/pseuds/Shurapenrose
Summary: When Alice leaves their house in the dead of night, sisters Lorina and Edith must go look for her. As the sisters enter the dark "wonderlands" of New York in 1924, they're forced to fight monsters they never knew existed.





	Alice in Wonderland: 1920s Gothic

Alice had never been an easy child to look after. She lived inside her head; in a world of remote fantasies. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when Mother and Father sent her to St. Abigail’s Institute after she turned ten--they were known for taking good care of… difficult children. I should’ve known something would happen when Alice came home for her autumn break. Something always did happen when Alice came home after being gone for a long time. It was as if all the wildness inside of her waited to burst out when she got home.  
I just didn’t know that this would happen.  
To explain, my parents were good, honest people… or, at least, they were now. I’d recently learned about my father’s past dealings with the gang men of New York City, but I wasn’t worried. My family had moved past that.  
However, it was on one October night that the stars aligned at exactly the wrong time. Our nanny fell asleep next to the fire, and it was Alice I saw, through my half-closed eyes, that slipped quietly out of bed, singing softly to herself, and left the room. At first, in my sleepy state, I thought nothing of it. She was probably going to get a drink of water.  
That was before I heard the metalic clicking of a latch being undone.  
I flew out of bed.  
Scrambling down the stairs as fast as I could in my nightgown, I arrived at the bottom just in time to hear the pattering of little feet outside. Just as quickly as I’d gone down them, I tore up the steps to the nursery where I flew onto our nanny, trying to shake her awake.  
When I could not, I remembered something Father had told me and checked her breath.  
Alcohol.  
My nanny had drank herself into a stupor--on this night, of all nights.  
Trying my hardest not to wake little Edith, I rifled through the closet until I found my heavy, woolen coat. I jerked it on over my nightgown before dashing back down the steps and fleeing out the door.  
However, I’d only just stepped onto the sidewalk when the door opened behind me. Just my luck, it was Edith, rubbing her eyes and yawning.  
“Lorraine? What’s going on?”  
I stepped onto the landing again, hugged my sister and kissed her blonde curls quickly.  
“I have to go. Only for a little while--go back to bed, Edith.”  
I saw tears shimmering in the eight-year-old’s baby-blues.  
“But, Lorraine, Nanny Whaler won’t wake up!”  
Every moment I stayed here Alice was getting farther and farther away. I grabbed Edith’s hands.  
“Would you like to come with me?”  
Edith perked up.  
“Oh, yes, please!”  
I let go of one of my sister’s hands and began walking down the sidewalk, quickly.  
“We have to find Alice. It’s like a game, Edie.”  
“Do you think we’ll find her?”  
“I don’t know.”


End file.
